This article is sponsored by Brightree. As reimbursement tightens and staffing challenges persist, sleep providers are feeling increased pressure to protect margin while maintaining strong patient outcomes. CPAP resupply programs sit at the center of that tension. In this Voices interview, Mike Lorenz, Vice President of Resupply at Brightree, shares where providers are losing margin today, how automation and AI are reshaping resupply operations, and why tech-enabled outreach may be the most reliable growth lever heading into 2026.
HME Business: What core experience shaped the way you view the home medical equipment space today?
Mike Lorenz: Two things really shaped the way I view the home medical equipment space today.
First, I was the CEO of a regional DME provider in the Northwest. Being on the provider side gave me a real understanding of the patient experience, the employee experience and the day-to-day reality of working with payers and vendors, whether that meant equipment vendors, software vendors or others. It grounded me in how this industry actually works, from the front lines all the way through the executive level, and that perspective has been incredibly valuable.
Second, this was not my first industry. It was the third or fourth industry I’d worked in, so I came in with a different lens. Over the last decade, I’ve been able to bring in ideas and approaches I saw work well elsewhere and apply them to some of the challenges this industry faces. I’ve learned a lot from people inside the HME space, but I also think that outside perspective has helped shape some of the tools and solutions we’ve been able to provide for our customers.
As payers continue to reduce reimbursement, what are the biggest cost drivers in CPAP resupply—such as manual touchpoints, rework, denials or outreach—and where should providers focus first when introducing automation?
Providers should start by looking at where they’re spending the most human time on work that doesn’t directly improve patient care. For example, if you have 10 people in the back office and six of them are tied up in documentation, that may be the right place to start. If the biggest burden is insurance verification, start there. If it’s patient outreach, start there.
In CPAP resupply, the biggest cost drivers are usually the manual administrative touches that pile up over time, documentation, rework, denials, eligibility checks and outreach workflows that still depend heavily on staff. In a tighter reimbursement environment, those labor-heavy processes can eat away at margin fast.
So the best way to introduce automation is to rank the biggest cost buckets first. Where are you spending the most money from a human resource standpoint, and what tools are available to automate that work effectively? Software may look expensive on an invoice, but it is often far less expensive than continuing to hire people to manage repetitive administrative work.
What happens when providers shift CPAP resupply from manual phone calls to automated digital outreach, including text, email, app notifications and AI? How does that transition affect staff workload and patient conversion?
What happens is that providers stop forcing patients into one channel and start giving them options. We don’t really think about it as moving patients from phone calls to digital outreach. We think about creating more convenient ways for them to engage, whether that’s text, email, an app, a portal or a phone call. Patients usually shift themselves toward their preference.
And importantly, that doesn’t mean phone calls disappear. If a patient wants that experience, it can still be there. But if they’ve already reordered electronically, there’s no need to keep chasing them manually.
Over time, we’ve seen that this kind of convenience improves both staff workload and patient conversion. Patients reorder more frequently when the process is simple, like responding to a text and completing a few quick steps, instead of playing phone tag with a provider’s office. That means fewer missed reorders, better ongoing therapy adherence and less staff time spent on repetitive outreach. So it’s not just a cost-saving move. It creates a better patient experience, stronger resupply performance and a more efficient operation overall.
How do resupply programs influence CPAP adherence and long-term therapy retention, and why does that matter more as health care moves toward lower total cost expectations?
Resupply programs play a meaningful role in keeping patients engaged with CPAP therapy over time. Part of that is practical, since regular outreach gives providers a reason to stay in touch, answer questions, reinforce good habits and make sure patients are replacing supplies when they should. If someone is breathing through that equipment for hours every night, replacing those components consistently matters for both hygiene and comfort.
There’s also research showing that patients enrolled in resupply programs tend to stay on therapy longer. That makes intuitive sense. When patients have an easier path to getting what they need, and they’re reminded of the value of therapy along the way, they’re more likely to remain engaged.
That matters even more as health care moves toward lower total cost expectations. Better adherence can support better outcomes, and better outcomes often mean fewer downstream issues, lower overall utilization and a stronger long-term value story. So resupply is not just a fulfillment function. It can be a meaningful part of keeping patients on therapy and supporting a more efficient care model.
What does AI in resupply look like in practice for a sleep team—whether that’s identifying patients at risk of falling off therapy, prioritizing outreach or closing gaps faster?
In practice, AI in resupply should focus on the places where it can remove friction and make teams more effective. That can mean helping identify which patients are most likely to need outreach, determining the best time to contact them or handling repetitive workflows that were previously too complex to automate with traditional software alone.
It can also expand access in a very practical way. AI voice agents, for example, can let patients call in 24/7 to reorder supplies, check order status, update an address or get help in multiple languages. During business hours, human support is still there when needed. But outside those hours, AI can keep the process moving instead of forcing patients to wait.
That kind of support helps sleep teams close gaps faster without adding more staff. It reduces routine workload, improves responsiveness and gives patients a more convenient experience. The opportunity with AI is not replacing people. It’s using technology to handle repetitive, time-sensitive work so teams can stay focused on the parts of the process where human judgment matters most.
Given ongoing staffing shortages and margin pressure, is tech-enabled or outsourced resupply becoming the safest growth lever for sleep providers? What metrics demonstrate that it works?
It can be, but it really depends on what a provider wants to specialize in. Some organizations have built strong internal resupply operations. They have their own call center, the right management team and the resources to invest in the technology needed to run it well. If that’s a core competency, it may make sense to keep it in-house.
For others, tech-enabled or outsourced resupply can absolutely be a safer growth lever, especially when staffing is tight and margin pressure is high. If a partner can take on the burden of recruiting, training, staffing and technology at a reasonable cost, that can free the provider up to stay focused on the health care part of health care, serving patients well and managing the parts of the value chain they’re best equipped to own.
The key is measuring whether it works. Start with the baseline metrics that matter most: how often patients reorder supplies each year, how many items are included in each order and how long patients stay on therapy. If those metrics stay stable or improve, that’s a strong sign the model is working. If they don’t, that’s when providers need candid conversations with their partners about what needs to improve.
Zooming out, what will separate sleep providers that thrive in 2026 from those that continue to struggle under margin pressure?
The providers that thrive in 2026 will be the ones that embrace technology in a practical way. To me, the standard has to be simple: the technology needs to do the work as well as, or better than, the human process it replaces. You can’t sacrifice quality. But if you can improve speed, reduce cost and cut down on mistakes, that becomes a real competitive advantage in a lower-reimbursement environment.
That also means using the full toolkit effectively, whether that’s automation, software or service partners when they make sense. Providers that are still trying to operate in 2026 the same way they did in 2016 are going to have a hard time. The ones that adapt, while keeping quality and patient experience intact, are the ones that are going to pull ahead.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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The Voices Series is a sponsored content program featuring leading executives discussing trends, topics and more shaping their industry in a question-and-answer format. For more information on Voices, please contact [email protected].